IMPROVEMENTS TO MY MAGAZINE AD

Having re-evaluated my magazine advertisement, I decided that I wasn't happy with it, as I felt that it was perhaps rushed and I hadn't put as much effort into it as I had done with the CD cover, therefore when they were put together, the magazine advert let down the CD cover. The image below details what I wasn't happy with and what I aimed to change (click to enlarge).

After creating a list of what I wanted to change, I started to make changes, starting with adding an image of my artist, Jonny. In order to keep correlation between each text, I knew that I wanted to use an image in which he was wearing the same costume as he is in the video. Instead of organising another day where I could take further images in my location, I decided that the most practical way to gain an image was to take a still from my video whilst in the process of being edited. There were a number of expectations that this still had to meet, as detailed below:

• to showcase the artist; showing his face/preferably full body as I feel that an still taken from a long shot for example would prove to be easier to fit into the piece, as there wouldn't be any straight edges that would occur if the still was taken from a medium shot or close up.
• to keep correlation between the texts by showing his costume, which reflects the weather which in turn reflects the mood of the video.
• shows the location which is represented in the lyrics and has links to my storyline; hosting a private event in a public place, contrasting the events and heightening the impact of the words without any background interference.

The image below is the still that I decided on, as I feel it meets all of the criteria that I presented, and has a lot of potential as an image, as I can use the magnetic lasso tool on Photoshop to cut around the image and make use of the interesting shapes that it provides, in an attempt to tie this in with the 'flow' of the layout on the magazine advertisement. 

As you can see, I made a lot of changes, the main being that I added the image of my artist. Using the 'Magnetic Lasso Tool' in Photoshop, I cut out the image of Jonny stood against the tree and placed it at the right side of the page. I rubbed out the top of the image to line it up with the ripped wallpaper at the top, as I couldn't just place it behind because the wallpaper image is set to a lower transparency. I'm pleased with how this turned out, and I definitely feel that an image of the artist is what the advertisement was lacking, as it gives it a new dimension and adds to the formation of the artist's identity.

I added the following items to the advertisement, in order to involve more conventions of a magazine advertisement for a CD, including more ripped wallpaper at the bottom to balance out the layout and three reviews, one involving words and the other two involving a 'star' rating, like the example shown below from Kasabian's advertisement for their album 'Empire'.

Whilst in the process of attempting to improve my magazine advertisement, I kept in contact with my Media lecturer, sending updated versions of the document over as often as possible in order to gain some feedback on how I was doing. After making the bulk of my changes, my lecturer provided me with the following comment:

"Really like ad. Do me a favour, keep that saved, and try instead of having 'the new album' try having his name, maybe a touch smaller, and try having him on left instead of on right. I know they're just picky things but there's just something I think needs changing and I can't put my finger on it!"

Because my lecturer was having a hard time deciding what it was she thought my piece was lacking, she forwarded the JPEG of my magazine advertisement to a friend who is a Graphic Designer, who provided me with the following feedback, which I found particularly helpful as I knew that it was coming from an especially professional point of view:

"Design, it's pretty impressive. I think it's mainly a case of being a bit more practical. At the moment the main headline screams 'new album' but I don't know who it's by - the artist name and 'new album' should be more equally weighted. So maybe have "THE NEW ALBUM BY JONATHAN GRAY" or something as the main headline, and make the 'stellar' review a bit easier to read too - it's very quiet. I think the shot of the chap and the tree is ok but the cut-out at the bottom is a bit clunky - maybe make the photo bleed off the bottom of the page so the bottom of the tree isn't visible - the text along the bottom can stay where it is but can be overlaid on top of a strip of white/semi transparent colour so that it's still readable over the pic behind it..."

I agreed with the feedback that I received from both my lecturer and her friend, as I had previously mentioned I didn't think that there was enough attention brought to the name of the artist, or even the name of the album, as the main sell line was 'THE NEW ALBUM', which doesn't say anything about the artist, and could be applied to anyone.

"Yeah I like it better with the artist name, I know I'm a pain but if you have access to Photoshop, try it not in italics... Yeah I like it with the image of the artist but I think you could have a strong piece still if you had decided to go without it - if the rest was centred - now that the text is different below the CD image."

I was really pleased with the feedback that I received, however I didn't agree with the second piece, as I liked having the title in italics and definitely wanted to keep the image of my artist, as I feel that this makes the image of my artist stronger and brings the three texts together as a whole advertising campaign.

THE FINISHED PIECE

I'm really pleased that I reevaluated my magazine advertisement and decided to make changes, as I feel I have improved what was a strong piece of work to an even more successful piece, that I believe fulfils conventions of a stereotypical magazine advertisement, and alongside the CD cover and video (when it's finished) provides the artist with a strong image that aims to appeal to the target audience.